Missing teacher’s skeletal remains found in Mankulam

The skeletal remains believed to be of Karthigesu Niruban - a teacher who had gone missing since September 2013 - were found in Mankulam several days ago and teacher unions which expressed distress on the incident urged the government to take immediate steps to reveal those responsible for Niruban’s death.

Niruban – a resident of Kopai, Jaffna was employed as a teacher in V/AL-Hamiya Muslim Maha Vidyalaya when he disappeared in 2013. He was last seen around 5 pm on September 19, 2013. Despite the Police complaint lodged regarding his disappearance and protests organised by teacher unions, urging the authorities to probe his disappearance, no information surfaced until last Wednesday.

A group of workers clearing a land plot in the Achchakadu area in Mankulam had discovered the skeletal remains, which had thereafter been placed at the Kilinochchi hospital for the relatives to identify.

Niruban’s mother and sister had identified the body by the scraps of clothing and the half-

Niruban’s mother and sister identified the body by the scraps of clothing and the half-burnt NIC

burnt NIC that was found along with the skeletal remains.

“It is disturbing that even after three years since the end of the war, civilians continue to disappear in broad daylight in these areas despite heavy military and police presence,” Ceylon Teachers Union (CTU) General Secretary Joseph Stalin said urging that the truth behind circumstances be revealed.